Left alone
by Tracy247
Summary: AU – How are you supposed to react when your best friend (and secret crush) from Elementary School just pops up in front of you 8 years after she disappeared without a word…! (Especially when you kinda wanted to hate her for hurting you like that but at the same time you're still kinda in love with her…?) - Probably not the way he did…!
1. Chapter 1

**Left alone**

_Chapter 1_

"Maka…?" The teenager whispered more to himself than anyone else really. He was pretty sure he was hallucinating. There was no way that _Maka_, his best friend from Elementary School, was actually standing in front of him right now. He hadn't seen her in years! And now, he was supposed to meet her casually walking through Death City?! Yeah, right…!

Well, either he was hallucinating or fate really was out to get him now.

"Soul?!"

Yup, second choice it is.

* * *

Elementary School…

One would expect that Elementary School in itself shouldn't be so bad, right? Most of the time everything was still fun and games. The most serious problem any normal student should encounter was your classmate having nicer crayons than you did or icky girls trying to paint your nails pink.

That wasn't the case for Soul Evans however.

The boy didn't even know anymore why he had asked his parents to go to a normal Elementary School instead of the private school his older brother had gone to. Probably because he had always hated the thought of becoming a second Wes like they apparently planned. But still, he had his doubts if his little act of defiance was really worth the daily humiliation because of his looks. (It's an entirely different question if it would've been any different in a private school…)

It wasn't _his_ fault that he had the white hair of his mother, with the difference that his was untamable and spiky no matter what he did. Neither did he have any say in the matter of getting his father's piercing ruby red eyes. And don't even get him started on his _stupid_ shark teeth, because he didn't even have the _slightest_ idea who of his relatives was to blame for that failure. (Really, he wondered who else had to live with these amongst the rest of his _perfect_ family when he wonders on a daily basis if anyone of them ever even got pimples…!)

All in all, he was a "monster" in the eyes of the other children.

Well, at least he got used to being called that relatively fast.

It _did_ still get annoying after over a year now though. Couldn't they at least come up with something new? Something more… original?

With thoughts like these Soul left the class room for their lunch break which he was planning on spending under the apple tree near the fence like always. Upon arriving there though, he had to witness someone else sitting in his favorite spot with a book in their lap. A little girl nonetheless.

"What are you doing here? This is my spot." He told her none too gently.

"Well, I'm sure there's enough space for the both of us. I'm Maka by the way!" The brunette answered cheerily, apparently not even noticing his rough tone while holding out her hand for him to shake in greeting after getting up from her seat against the tree. Soul ignored the gesture though.

"Listen, I guess you're new here since you don't know yet, but if you don't want to be bullied by the others I advice you not to speak to me." He really didn't have any reason to dislike her. Quite the contrary actually, she seemed really nice and didn't even become scared at first sight of him. But it was exactly _because_ of that that Soul didn't want her to lose her social life because of him.

"Why? Do you not like the others?" Maka asked innocently, looking towards the children playing tag a few yards away.

"No, that's not it. They don't like me!" He corrected quickly, hoping that if she left now the others wouldn't suspect anything yet. He really didn't want to be the reason a nice girl like her would have to suffer.

"And why don't they like you?"

"… What? I don't know! Probably because I look scary!" Soul almost shouted, gesturing towards his face with his right hand.

"Scary? You don't-" The girl started to say something but was rudely interrupted.

"Hey, monster!" _Dang it!_ "Why are you bullying a little girl?! She didn't do anything to you, so stop yelling at her! She didn't even know what kind of monster you were!" A boy from his class came running over from their game, apparently having heard them talking, before taking the girl's arm and yanking her behind him. He advanced slowly towards the white-haired boy who stared back emotionlessly. Just as the red-haired boy had lifted his hands to shove Soul away, a shout was heard from behind him.

"Stop that, you bully!" It was Maka standing there defiantly with her arms crossed and a frown set on her face. "Don't hurt him! He didn't do anything to me, we were just talking! So leave him alone!" Both boys were dumbstruck at the girl's little speech. Soul because nobody had ever spoken up for him before and the red-head because nobody had ever dared opposing him before.

"And what if I don't?" The latter asked scoffing at Maka.

"Then-… Then I'll beat you to a pulp!" She declared proudly, puffing out her chest. Who was this stupid girl anyway, trying to fight a boy that was 5 inches taller and at least a year older than she was? He had to do something, if only to repay her for trying to defend him. As the boy from his class now cornered Maka, he spoke up.

"You're not honestly going to hit a _girl_, are you? How _pathetic_ can you get?" He scoffed, staring him down again, this time with so much anger in his fiery gaze that the red-head turned tail and ran back to his friends, but not before shoving Soul to the ground in his run.

"Are you okay?" He heard Maka's voice in front of him as he tried to stand back up. His mother wouldn't be pleased at all that he got his clothes dirty.

"Yeah, I'm fine." The boy answered, taking the hand she offered him to get up. "Thanks…" He added quietly, his manners showing through the slightest bit, even if he didn't like it.

"That's good. And don't worry about it. I really don't like people like that. So what's your name?" Maka returned to her light-hearted self after having shown him that that side wasn't all this girl had to herself.

"I told you, you don't want to talk to me if you like having friends." Soul responded slowly getting frustrated with her stubborn attitude.

"And I already told you that I don't like people that bully others. And since I already got that boy just now angry, I probably won't be friends with any of them anyway. So how about we become friends instead?"

"Friends…?" Was she serious…? She actually wanted to be friends with _him_ of all people?!

"Yup, so let's try again. Nice to meet you, I'm Maka. What's your name?" She asks as if she had heard his thoughts, holding out her hand for him to shake again. Only this time, he took it smiling at her, yet still slightly hesitant to show her his teeth.

"My name's… Soul."

* * *

Ever since that first encounter in second grade, the two children had decided on meeting up at exactly that spot during lunch break every day, seeing as they would never have any classes together since Maka was a grade under him. But that didn't stop them from becoming best friends, practically joined at the hip if it wasn't for school schedules and the like.

Soul had never thought that his first and best friend would actually be a girl, but somehow he couldn't bring himself to mind. It was probably partly thanks to Maka's not exactly girly attitude. She didn't really care what the others thought about her being friends with him either, since her classmates pretty much ignored her ever since they first met, just like she had predicted.

The young boy felt really bad about that though. No matter how much Maka assured him that it was alright and that she wouldn't have wanted to be friends with them anyway, he still felt guilty that she couldn't find normal friends because of him. The girl never listened to him when Soul voiced things like that though probably knowing just as well as he did that he didn't want her to leave him alone again after entering his life. So she didn't.

Maka was the first person (except the handful of nice family members) to not judge him because of his looks, the first to actually want to look at what kind of person he really was. And Soul was so very thankful to have met the little girl that fateful day.

* * *

"Good Morning, Soul!" A cheery voice greeted him once he was within sight of their spot. He didn't lift his eyes to respond though, instead plopping down next to her and leaning back against the tree as he greeted her back.

"Hey, Maka…" His words were almost a slur as his eyes drifted shut every few seconds before he forced them open again.

"What's wrong? You don't look so well…" Said girl asked worriedly, abandoning the adventure novel at hand to study his face. Dark circles under his almost shut eyes caught her gaze upon further inspection. "Are you not sleeping well?"

"Nothing's wrong... I'm just a little tired. My parents and I had a fight yesterday so I wanted to get out of the house for a couple of hours. When Wes found me it was already 11 PM, but I guess that's to be expected since he was the only one looking for me anyway." He told her. The events of the previous evening had exhausted him, not only physically but also emotionally. His father and mother had shouted at him for at least another 30 minutes after Wes had convinced him to come home with the lure that he would be able to sleep in his warm and comfy bed soon instead of in the alleyway he had chosen as a hiding spot. And of course the reason for their shouting wasn't them being worried or anything. No, they blamed him that Wes hadn't had time to practice playing his violin that night since the older brother wanted to go out look for him. Maka didn't need to be bothered by all that though. She knew the procedure anyway.

"Oh… I'm sorry…" She brought him back to the situation at hand with her almost whispered apology. The girl knew that the relationship to his parents wasn't exactly a topic he liked to talk about a lot, so she knew better than to ask any further questions. This wasn't the first time he had told her something like this.

"Nah, don't worry. Hey, can you wake me up when the bell rings? I think I'm gonna take a little nap now or I'll do so in class. And I know that Ms. Mjolnir doesn't like students sleeping through class at all."

"Urgh… Alright. I'll wake you up when class starts again." She sighed, shaking her head lightly, but turned back to her book while Soul slid down to the ground a little more to be more comfortable as he felt his eyes drop again. This time he let them.

"Thanks…" He mumbled through a yawn, not noticing his head lolling to the side to rest against Maka's arm.

* * *

"Soul, give me back my book! I wanted to read that!" Maka's furious voice rang throughout the playground behind their Elementary School as she chased after said white-haired boy who was easily dodging her attempts to get the object back on her own.

"Jeez, Maka, what is all this about? I don't understand anything written in this weird book!" Soul ignored her cries of protests as he tried to make sense of the confusing words in front of him.

"If you can't even understand it then just give it back to me, you idiot! My aunt gave it to me for my birthday!" She huffed, too exhausted to continue her attacks on him. He had the advantage of height either way, since he could just hold it over her head and out of reach if she got too close to his liking.

"Alright, alright, here you got it back…!" The boy calmed her down, tossing her the thick book a little more roughly than he had intended to. "I was just wondering what you were always reading. Excuse me for being curious about my best friend!" He snapped sarcastically, not realizing that this was the first time either of them had actually mentioned that they were best friends to each other. It already was pretty obvious of course, but this little extra bit of trust such a statement required from Soul to her made Maka's heart warm. "Erm… I mean, I-… uh… you-" He stammered, nervous about being the first to have to admit that she was this important to him, probably the most important person in his life, right after Wes.

"You're my best friend, too, Soul!" Maka told him, smiling happily to save him from the _'uncoolness'_ of stuttering. Just as the boy sighed with relief however, his thoughts were interrupted again. "MAKA CHOP!" The book he had just been holding over his head had been thrust at him with surprising accuracy, leaving an already forming bruise in its wake. "That's for taking away my book…!" Man, this girl was _cruel_…!

* * *

"Hey Soul, do you want to walk home with me today?" Maka asked him one lunch break, surprising him enough to choke on his orange juice pouch. Normally her mother would come and pick her up every day after school, even though it wasn't as far as his home. It was the same direction however, so the boy didn't bother asking why her mother wouldn't come and simply accepted with a nod before clearing his throat to answer verbally.

"Sure, why not?"

On the way home though, Maka's concerned, lip-gnawing expression created an almost uncomfortable silence between them. Soul wasn't entirely sure if it was really a wise choice to ask her about it, but curiosity killed the cat.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Soul could only shrug when she flinched in surprise, before a confused expression took over her features. "You gotta admit usually you're the more talkative of the both of us… And you really don't look like everything's fine either…" He explained calmly, trying to hide his concern to maintain his 'cool' image.

"Oh, eh, no, really, nothing's wrong at all! I was just thinking about… homework!" The fake cheery smile on her face was really painful to watch.

"Then why have you been standing here in front of your house for ten minutes now without going in? It looks to me as if you're trying to buy time…" He observed her face as the smile slipped off, only to be replaced by a tight frown as she lowered her gaze.

"I… I just… I just don't want to go home yet…" As he noticed the slightly wet glistening in her eyes, Soul was quick to answer her. He just couldn't handle to see her cry, to the point where he was afraid of her tears.

"Then why don't you come with me to my place for a little and then you can tell me what's going on there? My mom can call yours to tell you where you are, okay?" He tried to calm her down desperately.

"My mom's…" At his questioning gaze Maka forced herself to continue. "M-my mom's gone…"

"… What?"

"M-my parents got… officially *hic* d-divorced last weekend… and so I'm living with… *hic* with my dad now. My *hic* m-mom went somewhere, b-but… no one knows *hic* w-where exactly she is…" Her silent sobs now turned into heart-wrenching crying and Soul was kind of panicked about what he was supposed to do. He hated seeing her cry.

"C'mon, let's go to my place for now. I'll make you a nice hot chocolate, alright?" He offered as he noticed that her hands were freezing while he made to hold one of them to get her to move with him.

"Are _you_ really going to make it?" She asked a little doubtfully, as she allowed herself to smile a little as she noticed how concerned her best friend was about her. It felt so good to know that there was someone offering a shoulder to cry on (even if he hated it when she did that). Still, she was a little worried about his offer since he had first told her that he couldn't boil water to save his life.

"Hey, believe it or not, but my hot chocolate is the best there is!" He claimed light-heartedly, squeezing her hand a little as they started to walk the rest of the way to his home where he proceeded to convince Maka that if anything, his hot chocolate was totally worth all of his boasting. He didn't push her any further on the subject of her parents' divorce, instead focusing on cheering her up.

That's what best friends were for after all.

* * *

It was really weird how… _weird_ it felt when Maka didn't spend her lunch break with him by the apple tree.

Soul didn't hold it against her though since he had gotten a call from her yesterday to tell him that she wouldn't be able to come to school today. She'd caught a cold.

And of course Soul felt worried about her, being forced to stay home alone since her idiot of a father had to go to work. So that's why he had decided to visit her after school and at least cheer her up a little. His best friend had been kind of down for a few days, probably due to the already developing fever that had blurred her concentration quite a bit.

As he rang the doorbell, he really hoped that Maka hadn't been sleeping at the time. The boy would've felt even worse for her if he had not only disturbed her while she was sick and maybe not even able to walk all the way to the door by herself but also woken her up from the rest she needed to actually get better. A cough on the other side of the door while she was fighting with the key told him that at least she hadn't been asleep. She wouldn't have made it to the door that quickly.

"Hey, Soul!" The girl greeted him cheerily as the door finally swung open, dressed in her pajamas and fluffy socks to keep her feet warm. Her cheeks and forehead were slightly flushed because of her fever and her nose looked to be running, but other than that she was her usual cheerful self.

"Hey there, Maka." He answered smiling with relief as he noticed that there was no real reason for him to have worried about her as much as he did.

"C'mon, you better get out of the cold or else you'll catch something too." Maka directed him to get inside as she noticed that he was shivering a bit. (Soul reasoned that his shivering wasn't entirely caused by the weather alone, but first and foremost by the snowball a guy from his class had shoved underneath his shirt after school.)

"So… how are you feeling?" The boy asked a little awkwardly, looking around. The TV in the living room next to the front door was turned on to some documentary or something and there was a tissue spender as well as a nearly empty cup of what he assumed to be tea. He guessed if she was good to watch TV she was good enough to deal with his normal attitude. Soul really hated to have to walk on egg shells around people, usually being pretty blunt about anything and everything he had on his mind.

"Oh, I probably look worse than I feel. It was a lot worse yesterday and this morning though, so my dad forbade me from going to school." As much as Soul hated to admit it, but Spirit had been right in at least this one decision in his life. "My nose is still a little runny and my throat hurts a little, but the fever has been gone for a few hours now, so I hope I can come to school again tomorrow."

"You know, if your throat still hurts, why don't you let me do most of the talking, okay?" As the girl nodded, sipping the last of the liquid in her cup, he continued. "Your form teacher, eh…"

"Ms. Nygus" She offered.

"Yeah, that lady. She gave me the homework you're supposed to do until Thursday since I told her during PE that I'd be visiting you." Soul explained, pulling the two work sheets out of his bag and handing them to her. Actually, he had specifically asked her to give him his best friend's homework since he knew how much it meant to her to always be at the top of her class. Maka was just a little nerd like that.

"Oh, thanks! I was wondering if I'd have to ask that one girl that at least doesn't seem to officially hate me!" The way her eyes lit up as she thanked him distracted him slightly, before he was brought back to reality by the rest of her sentence. He was still feeling guilty that this cheerful little girl in front of him was denied a normal school life, just because she had been sitting under the wrong tree on her first day and had gotten mixed up with him and his lonesome as a consequence.

"No problem." He replied instead slightly down-hearted as he watched her prepare another cup of tea for herself. His mind was quickly taken off of the guilt though as the two children watched TV together, making jokes and having fun before Maka's dad came home an hour and a half later.

Well, it wasn't much of a 'coming home' but rather a 'sprinting home' because the man _'was so worried about his cute little angel!'_ while Soul was pretty much thrown out of the house without even being able to tell her good bye.

The next day, Soul was missing from school.

He'd caught her cold…

* * *

Yup, they were as close as friends could be.

Sometimes he had to wonder though if 'friends' was really all they were to each other… That thought especially had him troubled after he caught himself staring at her more than once while she was immersed in some book or another she had brought to school that day. The way her gaze was focused on the words in front of her, her bangs falling over her eyes, her nose scrunching up when she apparently got stuck on a word she didn't understand…

Soon Soul came to the (embarrassing) conclusion that he _may_ have developed a slight, no _tiny_, little crush on his best friend. So what? She was nice and easy to talk to and… kinda cute, okay?!

He didn't do anything about it however. It would've been totally uncool. (Or that's what he told himself.)

The white-haired boy never could quite decide if he would've still gotten this close to her, had he known what was to come.

* * *

It had been the beginning of spring break two years after their first meeting.

Soul was feeling bored in his stuffy home all on his own since his parents were busy and not interested in him anyway – as always – Wes had gone to visit a friend of his a few days ago and the only other person in the household was the cook, a woman in her late twenties called Julia who unfortunately didn't seem to understand when he told her to stop calling him "Young Master Soul". Actually, she didn't seem to understand much of anything he was saying since she had come to the States only two years before and her English skills were still lacking quite a bit of effort. (Still, her food was heavenly, especially considering that his family wasn't really all that talented in the kitchen department…)

So the boy decided to ask Maka if she had time to meet up with him.

Quickly dialing the only telephone number he knew by heart (excluding his own), he waited patiently for either Maka's cheery or her father's rougher voice to pick up.

_Beep… Beep… Beep… Beep… Beep…_

_"This is the automatic mailbox of the number: XXXX XXX XX XXX X You may leave a voice mail-"_

Soul hung up. That was odd. Why weren't they home? Well, he guessed Maka had just forgotten to tell him about a trip to visit some relatives or something.

_… Back to cartoons it is._

* * *

The next day he tried again to see if Maka was home this time, with the same result as the day before.

Actually, he tried on a daily basis for the next three days, even at different times. Still, all Soul ever got was voice mail.

So he decided to check up on her home personally. Maka would've told him if she was gone the entire break for sure. What if he had somehow upset her and now she was so angry that she wouldn't pick up the phone? Spirit would site with her under any circumstances, so there was no help to be expected from the overprotective father of his best friend either. Or what if she was sick and alone at home again, while her bastard of a dad was prancing around with women?

With new vigor, the white-haired boy swung himself onto his orange-colored bicycle and made for the familiar two story house Maka and her dad inhabited-

… Or maybe not.

Soul blinked twice and rubbed his eyes, hell, he even pinched himself in the arm to make sure that he wasn't merely imagining things _now_ of all times. He didn't.

Right there in the window next to the front door he could read the words he wanted to read least:

**TO BE SOLD  
In case of interest call: XXXX XXX XX XXX X**

This couldn't be happening…!

No, wait; was he really at the right address?!

Dang it, there was just no mistaking the house he had visited so many times before. It even still had the name tag at the door! (He knew it was stupid to ring the doorbell but it had been a last ounce of hope for him. Of course, nobody opened the door…)

But why hadn't Maka told him about any of this? They were supposed to be best friends, damn it! You didn't hide the fact that you were moving from your best friend! It was so totally not cool!

As he drove back to his own home, rushing down the streets in anger at his best friend, he found himself promising to get Maka to explain herself to him once they got back to school in a few days.

* * *

Holidays had never felt as long before as this stupid spring break he had spent watching cartoons, being bored and watching even more cartoons… out of boredom! Everything was so boring, even though Soul really looked for a distraction to at least temporarily forget about the current problem. But of course he never quite managed to fully get immersed in the mindless dawdling of a damn sponge with a way too squeaky voice or some weird looking cat getting its ass handed to it by cockroaches.

All he really wanted to do was see Maka again to make sure that she was alright and all that jazz and to make her realize that it was _so not cool_ to not tell him a word about moving away. Did she honestly think that he didn't care about her at all? Soul had thought she knew that she was his best (if not only) friend…

So that's why the boy felt all the more relieved (something that he was sure would never happen again) when school started.

He didn't see her before class started, but that wasn't really surprising since he was running late as usual. It frustrated him however that he would have to wait until recess to talk to her.

Concentrating on first and second period was proving to be really difficult, considering that Soul's mind was constantly imagining reasons why Maka wouldn't have told him about things. Did she not trust him? Did he do something to get her angry after all? Or did she simply not want anything to do with him anymore, having realized that he was really just a hindrance to a normal life?

The boy forced thoughts like these out of his mind as he registered the bell ringing for break. Immediately shooting up from his seat, he didn't even remember to take his breakfast outside with him as he usually did. Instead he was sprinting towards the familiar apple tree, in hopes of finding the girl there.

He was slightly disheartened to find that she wasn't where he had expected her to be, but decided to wait for now. The bell had just rung after all; Soul was pretty much the first person on the school yard except for the janitor who was busying himself with raking up the dry petals and leaves on the ground.

He watched as dozens of children entered the back yard of the school, but none of them was the one pig-tailed little girl he was waiting for. The boy even recognized a girl from her class, but even minutes later Maka was nowhere to be seen.

When the bell rang again to signal the start of another lesson, Soul had a deep frown etched into his face. Why wasn't she here? Was she avoiding him for some reason? No, she wouldn't have any reason to… right? It's probably just that the moving process takes a little longer than planned and she hasn't been able to find all of her things yet or something… Then again, while it was true that in Maka's opinion it was an outright sin to appear to school without all of the necessary tools and textbooks and whatnot, would she really prefer not going to school at all if she were to miss something? Surely not, she was far too much of a nerd to skip over such a petty reason!

But then, _why_ wasn't she here?

Soul decided that he just had to wait until she would come back to school. There was simply no method for him to contact her otherwise after all.

She didn't appear the next day. Or the one after that. Or the week after that.

It made the boy become seriously worried.

In his concerned oblivion he decided to ask a teacher if they knew something about Maka. Surely they would know if she was ill or something and maybe they could even give him her new address so he could visit her like last time around.

So two weeks after spring break, he approached his form teacher, Ms. Mjolnir, at the end of class.

"Soul, how can I help you?" She asked, looking up from her desk in front of the class where she had been writing down the homework she had given her class. The young woman was pretty nice in his opinion, if somewhat strange at times, but at the very least she tried really hard to teach the children and they could all feel that she loved her job as a teacher. Not even her black eye patch could hide the twinkle in her other eye whenever she worked with her students.

"Ms. Mjolnir, do you know anything about Maka?" Soul asked bluntly. This wasn't the time to beat around the bush if you asked him. He was too worried to feel shame at having to get help from a teacher about a problem which doesn't really concern school. He just wanted to find out about his best friend.

"Maka…? Oh, you mean Maka Albarn from class 3B?" At his nod Ms. Mjolnir seemed to think more seriously about the matter. "Hm… I don't think I've heard anything about her… Why? Has she not been to school lately?" She asked curiously. The boy shook his head slightly, looking to the ground sadly. Not even the teachers knew about if? Then what was he supposed to do? "How about we ask the school's secretary together then, hm? She might be able to help." The woman's gently voice brought him back to reality, looking sympathetically at the student in front of her.

It was no news to her of course that Soul was close friends with that girl named Maka, judging from them always spending their lunch together. She had noticed on her playground duty how even though the two children were sitting so far away from the rest of the students, they didn't seem lonely at all. Rather they seemed to be perfectly comfortable with just each other.

Marie Mjolnir had been really happy when she had discovered that the chipper little girl brought something other than hurtful names and bullying into the school life for her trouble child of the class. Soul had always been sitting alone, refusing to do group assignments with anyone except himself, not talking to anyone that wasn't a teacher (and even that only occurred once in a blue moon). It had really worried her.

_Children could be so very cruel…_

That had been what she thought about the matter at first.

And then Maka arrived.

And with the girl the boy's seemingly stoic expressions seemed to melt away and soon he was able to smile like any other child, if only in the presence of this one girl. Maka had made Soul so very happy that Marie really hoped for the boy's sake that this extraordinary friendship would not have to suffer.

It would hurt her as well if he was forced to live in loneliness again.

Taking the white-haired child by the hand they walked together towards the office of the headmaster of the school where the secretary was also found most of the time. Upon knocking lightly, Marie opened the door and peeked inside to see the older woman typing away at a document on her computer without looking up.

"Excuse me, do you have a minute?" She asked politely, in case the woman's current assignment was more important.

"Of course, Marie, what is it?"

"I'd like to know about Maka Albarn, a student from class 3B. She seems to not have attended school for a few days and her friend here has become worried, it seems." Soul looked away in embarrassment as his teacher pushed him forward a little for the older woman to see. But he would have to live through this uncomfortable moment if he wanted to get information about Maka.

"Hm… Let's see, then…" she continued to mutter a little more under her breath as she began typing something into the computer again, before frowning at the monitor. "It seems that Ms. Albarn has been taken out of this school as of last Monday."

_Taken out of school…?! _

"What does that mean?" Soul looked at his teacher questioningly, he wanted answers. However the blonde woman next to him seemed to be almost as shocked at the news as he was. It took her a few more seconds to focus on him again before she began speaking quietly and soothingly.

"Soul, I'm sorry to say this, but… it looks like Maka won't be coming back here…" Her words registered in his brain one after another, but the information behind them seemed to be lost to his mind.

"What…?"

* * *

_So, this is the first chapter of my first ever (published) multi-chapter. I hope it wasn't horrible. Review if you have an opinion about this, no matter if it's criticism or praise! I want to get better at writing so constructive criticism is much appreciated!  
_

_This story is probably going to be around three chapters long, so it won't be anything terribly long. (I don't think I'm quite ready for writing something like that.) Maybe there will be an epilogue as well, but I guess we'll see to that when the time comes!_

_For now, I hope you enjoyed reading and will stay tuned for the next chapter! :)  
_

_Last but not least: I don't own anything! Seriously, even the idea belongs to the plot bunny hiding under my bed!_

_- Tracy247_


	2. Chapter 2

**Left alone**

_Chapter 2_

Wes Evans had just been on the last soft tunes of the piece he would perform next week, when the loud slamming of the front door and the thundering stomps up the stairs drowned out his violin. Wasn't it still a little too early for someone to be returning home…? Frowning slightly, the young man asked himself what had happened to his little brother (really, nobody else could make an entrance like that) this time. Soul had been so on edge the past couple of days, but he didn't tell him about it either.

With one last door being shut quite loudly, silence returned to the house once again.

Nevertheless, the older Evans decided to look after his sibling, just in case he wanted someone to listen to him. As he neared the heavy door to Soul's room, it became clear that it wasn't exactly silent in there. Upon opening said door Wes was able to understand the (still somewhat muffled) words tumbling from those lips pressed against the pillow on his bed.

"Damn it! Damn it, damn it, damn it, damn it, _damn it!_ She-she's not supposed to leave me alone, damn it! She said we were best friends! Since when didn't best friends tell each other something like this anymore?! Why did she just leave? Why does everyone always leave? She can't leave me… _She can't, god damn it!_" The boy was spread out face first on his mattress, pillow clutched in his hands so tightly the knuckles were turning white as sobs racked his body in uneven intervals. The white hair they had both inherited from their mother hid the rest of his face, but the strands right in front of it were also turning damp now.

Stepping forward quietly, not sure if it was a good idea to approach his younger brother while he was this upset, but determined to at least offer his help, Wes spoke up softly. "Hey, Soul…" Before he could find the words he wanted to say however, he was interrupted by the crying mess in front of him.

"Shut up, Wes! In case you haven't noticed it yet I'm not in the talking mood right now…!" Even though he had tried to swallow his sobs, the boy's voice shook with raw emotion as he glared at his brother. Of course his puffy eyes still betrayed him for the previous action but Soul had merely acted on impulse when he felt the need to take out his frustration at something. Unfortunately, the closest 'something' just so happened to be the one person left who still cared about him.

Wes didn't hold it against him though. He saw that his little brother had been so shaken up by whatever had happened that he probably couldn't even think clearly right now. Instead the older one spoke up again cautiously. "Do you want me to stay here or should I leave?"

"… Don't leave…!" The whispered plea barely met his ears, but once the meaning had settled in Wes sat down on the bed next to the once again sobbing boy and started stroking his back lightly. Soul may have never said it but he knew that this action soothed him more than words ever could (especially since words were neither exactly his nor Wes' forte).

The boys stayed in that position until the younger one had finally calmed down enough to be able to explain everything even if sobs still interrupted his speech every now and then. At the end of if he made Wes promise to never say a word about this to anyone, stating that it was 'totally _uncool_' to cry.

At the very least the older brother was relieved to see him somewhat back to his normal self again, so he gave his brother one last advice before leaving to practice some more on his violin.

"Soul… Don't push Maka out of your life because of this, okay? She might have hurt you badly, but I believe strongly that she wouldn't have done something like this without a good reason… I'm sure you two will see each other again. It just may take a little while longer than both of you want it to…" And with that, he ruffled the white locks on the boy's head smiling encouragingly at him before leaving him alone with his thoughts.

Talking about it might help for the most part, but Wes somehow knew that Soul still wanted –and needed– some time to himself to think about everything.

* * *

It was hard getting re-accustomed to being all alone again.

Much harder than it had been getting used to having a cheerful, temperamental girl next to him at all times.

Getting up in the morning, dragging himself to school, suffering through classes… Everything could've been just like it always had been. But he had nothing to look forward to anymore.

There was no pig-tailed little girl waiting for him under the apple tree so they could eat together anymore. No best friend reading in the exact same spot during lunch while he tried to ignore the nerdiness (and failing miserably). No Maka waiting for him after school to ask if they could hang out later.

And he missed her like crazy.

Even so, he tried to make everything appear as usual to the outside. It wouldn't help anyone if they knew about this mess that had thrown him for a loop just when he had been feeling like everything could be alright.

His afternoons were spent alone in his room again, trying not to think about the girl that had left his once mended heart in shambles again.

She managed to invade his thoughts anyway.

One would think that after asking himself at least a million times why she had left _without telling him anything_, he would've been able to come up with a satisfying answer.

He hadn't.

He had some theories, of course, but none of them made enough sense to not be considered melodramatic from an outsider's point of view. The most valid reason he had been able to think of was actually the one that had been his first instinct when he had this horrible gut feeling all the way back during spring break.

Maybe she _was_ angry with him after all.

Although, to be honest, Soul had no idea whatsoever what he might have done to get her mad. Still, with that girl's temper it actually appeared the most possible amongst the other 500 far-fetched plots in his jumbled mess of a mind.

(He _knew_ the probability of aliens having kidnapped her and her family was pretty damn low… but who knows? Maybe someone had finally acknowledged that this girl was really kind of a genius in her own way…? So he didn't dismiss the ideas completely, just kept them in the back of his mind in case there would ever be other signs for this one or the rest to be true…)

Because, really, if anything he knew that the girl wouldn't be as childish as to just move away without a word because of a little fight between them! She was supposed to be the mature one after all!

No, Maka wasn't like that… right?

But then why didn't she tell him? Why didn't she say good bye? Why didn't she at least _try_ to stay in contact?! They could've written letters, could've talked on the phone, could've met during weekends or holidays…!

But if she had wanted that… wouldn't she have talked to him about everything…?

Whenever Soul let his mind wander to this point, his face would already be streaked with tears. He didn't understand that girl! All this time he'd been her best friend, he'd thought he knew her inside out, just like she knew him! And now…

Now, he was alone again…

* * *

Time passed slowly for Soul.

So very slowly in fact that what were actually mere weeks felt like several years for the boy.

And then _that_ day rolled around.

The Evans boy probably wouldn't have remembered it if it wasn't for his brother waking him at dawn. On a freaking Saturday. He was just about to complain about how he would refuse to get up at such an ungodly hour on a Saturday when he actually listened to what Wes was excitedly telling him about.

Today was the day of his audition for one of the most renowned music schools of the entire country.

As much as Soul didn't want to become a copy of his older brother, the two shared the love for music. That's why he had somehow convinced his father to let him audition for the same music school Wes attended for years.

But that was before all of this mess with… _her_ started. (He didn't dare think of her name anymore. It hurt too much.)

After he had first told her that he could play the piano, she had been bugging him to let her listen to him, just once. He didn't stand a chance against her practiced puppy eyes. So he played for her. A piece he had written himself. It was dark, gloomy, aggressive, dangerous… and yet she hadn't flinched once.

He'd had his doubts about playing this one in particular but he really loathed playing classical pieces by Mozart and Chopin and Bach. Besides, she had promised him to not judge him for his music. Of course, that was impossible. He knew that. But there was something in her gaze – pleading, hope, trust, loyalty? – that made him feel like playing something anyone other than himself had composed would be like betraying her. Like hiding behind the soothing sounds of a sonata written in 18th century again. Like hiding _from her_ after she'd already seen so much of him. Probably almost everything.

Except she hadn't seen his soul the way he did yet.

So that's what he showed her through his music.

Soul really didn't know what he was feeling when he had finished playing, still hunched over the keys as the final notes seemed to continue vibrating through the space between them. He didn't dare turn around to look at her expression. Surely, he would find a look of utter shock, distaste, hell, maybe even _fear_ on her usually bright face. The slow clapping sounds emerging from her hands were simply a polite gesture, nothing he could actually get his hopes up for.

Well, at least he'd shown her how he saw himself.

_"__This is who I am…!"_

Somehow, he felt like being honest with her, with himself, was more important than to play just to please her. He'd wanted to show her the bluntness, the irritability, the sarcasm, the many edges of his personality that he was known and mostly hated for.

_"__Wow, that was beautiful, Soul!"_

Only she didn't.

_"__Do you even understand anything about music, you dork?"_

She was the exception.

_"__Well… not really…!"_

Maybe Soul had been trying to test if it would stay that way, no matter what may happen, no matter how awful of a person he turned out to be, no matter how much everyone else – and he himself – hated him…

_"__Idiot…!"_

Make sure that she wouldn't leave him.

_"__That doesn't mean I can't like it though, right?"_

But she had now.

And even as the boy played the classical piece on the beautiful black piano in the audition hall in a city halfway across the country, the thoughts of the girl didn't leave him.

It had messed up his performance. The originally calming and peaceful melody became melancholic and depressing with his playing and as much as he had to admit that it fit his mood so very perfectly, the judges apparently didn't like his new interpretation as much.

He'd always hated playing anyway, he told himself on the way back. Only for her had he actually practiced, just so he could play for her again someday. Just so he could show her that he'd improved. In the end, she'd only heard him once and with his luck it would forever stay the last time as well.

_"__Will you play for me again sometime?"_

Still, he refused to stop practicing for her.

_"… __Sure."_

* * *

He tried hating her.

He really tried. Trying to block her out of his thoughts and ignoring that she had ever existed didn't work so well. Trying to forget how happy he'd been those two years they'd spent together was just as impossible. So Soul tried hating her.

Telling himself that she'd been playing with him all along, that she'd never really felt any friendship towards him, that she was somewhere entirely else now and probably didn't even remember him anymore…

But it was useless. No anguished thought could ever really convince him that she deserved to be despised for hurting him like this.

She wasn't the first one anyway. Why should she have to be the first one to be hated when all she did was showing him happiness before she disappeared?

However, it was exactly the fact that he _had_ been so content with her that he felt so hurt right now, wasn't it?

Would he have felt the same way if he hadn't let her get so damn close to him? If he hadn't allowed her to break down his carefully built walls one by one as if it was nothing?

No.

That's when the boy realized that it was his own damn fault. He had let her stay with him. He had let her befriend him. He had let her get so close to his heart that she ripped it out without even knowing when she left.

Soul wondered if he could've done anything to avoid this mess. Not that it mattered anymore, he stopped his train of thought. There was nothing he could do now to change the past, so there was no use in getting so caught up in the 'what if's! He would just have to learn to deal with the way his life turned out because of the choices he made…!

No matter how difficult it would be…

* * *

When Middle School started Soul was pretty sure that he was over the girl of his childhood. (Well, he more or less convinced himself that he was.)

He wanted a fresh start. Sure, there was nothing he could've done during Elementary School to get rid of his frustrating image of a monster, but if nobody knew him maybe he would be able to be a student like any other…

That's why he decided to attend Shibusen, a school none of his classmates wanted to even consider because of its reputation of harboring very… extraordinary characters.

Soul was intrigued though. He was pretty sure he was enough of a weirdo to fit in with all of the others. And a weirdo among weirdoes shouldn't draw all that much attention, right?

Apparently he did anyway, what with his striking looks. Even though most students of Shibusen had some _special_ feature about themselves, be it a god-complex or an OCD for symmetry, most of them _looked_ normal enough at first sight. (Excluding a handful of people with hair colors he doubted were entirely natural… But then again his _was_ so he wasn't one to judge.)

Surprisingly enough, though, this time around the other students didn't judge him for his odd looks. Rather, they came to see him as the 'cool guy' of their grade.

Soul guessed the main reason for being called that was his indifferent behavior towards pretty much everything concerning school, people and most of all girls. And for some reason, now he had girls pining for him without having done a freakin' thing!

It wasn't exactly bad to be called 'cool'…! Actually he prided himself a little every now and then to be considered as such. But the girls were annoying…! Why couldn't they understand that he just wasn't interested after having told them once that he wasn't looking for a girlfriend?!

Well, at least he had been able to find a few friends ever since having started attending Shibusen. Although none of them were as close to him or ever could be as much of a best friend to him as _she_ had been, Black Star, Kid and Kilik were alright. They didn't seem to mind that the white-haired teen didn't seem to talk all that much about himself.

They were friends because they didn't hate each other, but it wasn't like they knew much about each other either. Or maybe it was just like that for him.

He guessed that he just didn't want to be hurt again the way he'd been in fourth grade, so he didn't allow people to get close to him anymore, much like he should've been doing back then as well.

From time to time, though, the guys became a little suspicious about his behavior, especially whenever spring break rolled around. It was unheard of at this point that Soul showed much emotion at all, maybe a smirk here and there while he was enjoying a game of basketball, but all in all he was seen as pretty much expressionless most of the time. And as much as the teens he considered friends didn't understand feelings and girly crap like that, they still knew that not showing even facial expressions wasn't exactly to be considered normal…

"SOUL! YOUR GOD DEMANDS YOU TO TELL HIM!" Black Star shouted at the shark-toothed boy when he refused once again to spit out his problem.

"Seriously, dude, this isn't normal!" Kilik piped into the conversation as well, trying to convince their friend to spill.

"Soul, I have to agree with these two. We are concerned about you, even if you aren't symmetrical…" Sometimes the other teens really wondered what kind of priorities Kid had… But that was beside the point right now!

"So what? It's got nothing to do with you, so just leave me alone!" Soul replied over his shoulder as he walked away from the others with his usual swagger. On the inside though, he really hoped that the guys would leave him to deal with his own worries. He wasn't sure how much longer he could keep up with pretending that he didn't care bullshit about what other people thought.

It wasn't that the boy enjoyed loneliness. Far from it, actually!

But he just couldn't let himself crack again. He wouldn't let himself be hurt again!

After all, if he was entirely honest with himself, he knew that the thoughts of a pig-tailed little girl with a bright smile hadn't left his mind much ever since he saw her the last time.

Soul had to admit, though, that it probably didn't help that he was staring at a picture of her everyday sometimes for hours on end.

_Okay_, so he was in love with someone he hadn't seen in years, so what, damn it?! And who cared if he was gazing at a picture to the point of getting lost in thought because he missed her so much? It didn't even matter that acting like this was pretty much the most uncool thing he could do.

Nothing mattered.

Soul didn't care that it was unreasonable to still pine after her.

He didn't care that she unknowingly bound him to her, his loyalty never failing, never fading.

He didn't care if he wasn't cool.

* * *

There weren't many photos of the both of them. Of her, sure. Her mother had enjoyed taking snap-shots of her daughter whenever she found the time, but all of those were still in Kami's possession.

The only one he had with both of them in it had been taken by Wes all the way back in third grade, when she had come over after school. They had enjoyed some ice cream, both laughing at the fact that Maka had some stuck to her cheek when his brother had taken the photo unknown to them. It was such a happy memory that it hurt to look at it every time Soul did.

Every memory of her did.

But it was a good kind of pain in his opinion.

So the boy just couldn't help himself when he looked at that photo every day, right before going to bed. By now, the photo was pretty creased and already a little faded since he had never gotten a frame for it, but Soul didn't care.

He'd treasure his memories, no matter if she did the same or if she'd forgotten about him…

* * *

At this point Soul was sure that he was in love with her. After all, it shouldn't hurt this much to think about someone you hadn't met for years, right? You were supposed to get over it, not necessarily forgetting about them, but seriously not still being so hung up about something that happened in fourth grade either, right?

I mean, he was 15 years old, damn it! He was supposed to be having fun with friends, pulling pranks and maybe getting a girlfriend… Instead the place where his heart was supposed to be was still hollow because an eight year old had taken it with her all those years ago!

It was pathetic…!

Thinking made everything worse, though. Now, as glad as he'd be to try, he couldn't just turn off his brain, could he? He couldn't just turn off the thoughts about her either, unfortunately…

Whenever he had nothing better to do he would lie on his bed, trying to blast his thoughts away by listening to music on maximum volume. No use.

Damn it all, Soul knew for a fact that getting caught up in 'what ifs' wouldn't get him anywhere!

So why couldn't he just stop wondering how- _what _they would be right now if she hadn't left him?! Would they still be best friends or would he have gotten the guts to ask her out and tell her he loved her by now? Would he even have realized his feelings for her or would they still be living in innocent and uncomplicated oblivion? Or would she have left him for another guy by now anyway…?

It didn't matter, he told himself.

She was gone!

There was no way to turn back time.

She was gone.

He wouldn't see her again.

She was gone…

…

_So why couldn't he stop loving her, goddamn it?!_

* * *

_Yay, the second chapter is up! I hope you enjoyed reading (at least a little)! Tell me your opinion about it in a review, so I can get better, alright? :)  
_

_I know, this isn't as long as the first chapter, but that's only because originally the first chapter was supposed to be two. Well, really originally this entire story was supposed to be a one-shot...! And then it somehow turned far too long to be posted all at once. ._.  
_

_I actually like the idea of Wes being a good brother to Soul and comforting him when he's down, even if Soul is supposed to be jealous or angry at him. Brotherhood ties are just too adorable to write...! Also, I honestly think Soul wouldn't let himself cry (it being uncool) but at this point, he just can't suppress it anymore. I mean, he's a little boy for the first part of this chapter. (Yeah, I'm kinda looking for excuses for making him OOC. But I honestly think it to be a somewhat natural reaction as well.)_

_And SoMa-pining! XD (Sometimes I feel bad for making my male characters always pine so much for the girl of their dreams...!) _

_Thank you very much for favoriting and following this story or even me: physco-alice98, Shiki.V, Dawnispeace, Mermain123, DauntlessSoul, nohicom, sabrina bina, Ashley Bethune, superlena07, BOOKWORM405, WhiteRaven421, yuuki24688, __HTTYD-PJATO-ROTG-41185_, TheLightBeforeWeLand, vitorman and dallysbear!  


_Also, thank you so much for taking the time to review: Starlight (Guest), Dawnispeace, yuuki24688 (sorry that this chapter and the next ones aren't as long as the first), HTTYD-PJATO-ROTG-41185 and SoMa4386 (Guest)!  
_

___It means so much to me that you all enjoy this story!_

_And last but not least: I don't own anything! Seriously, even the idea belongs to the plot bunny hiding under my bed!  
_

_- Tracy247_


	3. Chapter 3

***Important note about the epilogue at the end of the chapter!***

**Left alone**

_Chapter 3_

"Soul?!" Okay, Soul, calm down. You're _probably_ hallucinating or something uncool like that. There's no way she could be standing in front of you now of all times. It's just some other petite girl with light brown hair in pigtails and forest green eyes and a body you wouldn't've dreamed her of having. And now you're imagining her voice because you miss her and you probably went kinda crazy ever since you became friends with Black Star.

That's right! Everything was just his imagination running wild! Maybe he should stop consuming so much sugar before sleeping…!

But then, why didn't the girl in front of him look at him weirdly for calling her a random name? Why didn't she huff and walk away, far away from that creepy kid with blood red eyes? Why did she seem to be just as shocked as he was…?

"Soul…? Is that really you?" There it was again; that sweet voice saying his name. How the _hell_ was he able to remember her voice so perfectly right now when he had struggled so much the last few years to remember her laugh?

Somebody must've spiked the bubbler!

The girl was waving her hand in front of his face now, probably trying to see if he was still conscious. Soul wasn't sure if he was. His field of vision was almost zeroed in on the person in front of him, but at least he could still see. Didn't everything go black when you fainted or something? Then again he couldn't really move either, his feet stuck to the ground. He couldn't even find the strength to move his fingers, much less his arm.

All he could do was staring at this girl.

_I'm going crazy…!_

"Hey, are you alright? Are you running a fever?" His trance was broken when he felt her hand on his forehead.

_Wait a sec! SHE'S REAL?!_

"Maka…?" His voice finally worked again, although barely louder than a whisper.

"Yeah, it's me. We already established that much, didn't we? Now answer me, are you alright?" Maka answered as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. As if they _hadn't_ not seen each other for eight years with no contact at all. Soul didn't quite know how to react.

"Eh… yeah, don't worry…" The boy answered still a little shell-shocked. It was proving to be kinda difficult to wrap his head around the fact that _Maka_, the girl he hadn't seen for years was just casually standing in front of him right now, acting as if they hadn't seen each other for a few days, not a few years! To be honest, Soul half expected to be woken up by his timer any second now to realize that all of this happened to be a mere dream.

Seriously, what was the probability of this happening anyway?

"So how have you been?" Then again if this was his dream Maka wouldn't make a poorly timed attempt at small talk. Rather, she'd have jumped into his arms like in the movies at first sight. (As cool as he pretends to be, he's really just a little lovesick fool after all.) But they weren't in a movie. They were real. _She_ was real. And as much as he wanted to show her how much he missed her- how much he wanted to hug her and kiss her and never let her go again- never let her leave again- Soul stopped his train of thought before his imagination ran wild again. He so didn't need this right now. It was hard enough to keep track of what she was talking about without having inappropriate thoughts about the girl he could call his best friend once.

"Not… bad, I guess. You?" Why was this so awkward, though? They'd been so close, they'd been able to talk about anything, really, and now he was already unsure about having small talk with her.

"Oh, I'm doing great!" That was what she said smiling brightly all the while, but the white-haired teen could tell that there was something bothering her. Why didn't she tell him? The boy guessed that they just weren't that close anymore. They'd drifted apart in the years without contact. As much as he'd like things to be like back then, it was probably impossible for two people to stay close after so much time…

'Distance makes the heart grow fonder', his _ass!_ They could very well be strangers, judging by their behavior!

And it irritated him to no end!

Ever since Maka had left Soul had been wishing to see her again, no matter how much she would've changed or how long they would've been apart. And now here they were and she wouldn't even tell him what was bothering her. He wondered if he even still had the right to ask her why she left back then… Wasn't it way too personal for almost-strangers to casually chat about something like that a few minutes after meeting?

And yet, he wanted to at least try. Most of all he wanted answers, damn it! Soul Evans wasn't going to just let any girl who happens to sit under his tree break his heart and get away with it without an explanation!

"So…" Maka tried once again to break the uncomfortable silence between them (which he hadn't even noticed due to not paying attention to her while he was contemplating his current situation) but Soul interrupted her.

"Hey, you wanna talk over a coffee or something? There's a Death Bucks not far from here." He didn't dare look at her opting to look towards the suggested coffee shop instead. Surely she would feel uncomfortable with him. Why did he even bother asking?!

"Hm… I'm not a big fan of coffee…" His shoulders sagged slightly. There was his rejection in a sugar-coating. "… But if you treat me to some hot cocoa, I'm all in! It's been way too long!" Was this girl for real…? She'd actually agree to something like that? After all this time?

Just a little bit of hope seemed to rise inside of him as Soul realized that maybe they _could_ go back to the way things had been before…!

* * *

Yeah, well, _maybe_ that was easier said than done.

They were sitting in a Death Bucks, alright, both teens staring more or less tensely at the drink in front of them. Soul guessed that he'd have to start up the conversation this time around. It had been his idea to talk and she had already made the first step by agreeing. But the words just seemed to be stuck in his throat.

He didn't even know what he wanted to say.

He wanted answers, sure. But he couldn't just blurt out 'So tell me, why again did you leave me alone in fourth grade without any kind of notice?' Yeah, not happening. Not only would it be totally uncool to admit how hurt he had felt at the time, but he would also kind of guilt trip her about it. And asking what she had been up to these last few years just seemed kind of too personal and actually like asking the exact same thing. Or at least it would lead there as well.

Honestly, Soul wasn't even all that sure anymore if he really wanted to know.

And even assuming he did, Maka might not even answer him… _if_ he ever got the balls to actually ask her about it.

"Um… Soul?" The girl sitting next to him asked carefully trying to catch his attention. As soon as Soul lifted his head and looked at her, though, he had to snort, trying to stifle his chuckles. "Huh? What is it? What's so funny?" Maka was confused. Here they were sitting because he wanted to talk to her and as soon as she started to strike up a conversation (again, damn it, why couldn't he just open his own big mouth for once?) he nearly broke down laughing at her. Jerk.

"Sorry…! It's just-…" Another snort escaped him even though the white-haired teen did his best to calm down. "You have a… milk mustache…!" He choked out before another set of snickers made him cover his mouth. Damn it, he didn't mean to laugh at her! But her baffled expression was so cute, he almost didn't care…! Hearing her shocked shout that he should stop laughing and seeing her desperate attempts to get rid of the offending cream on her face only made things even worse however, as the young man nearly doubled over clutching his stomach finally letting his laughter out into the open.

It had been so long since he had even chuckled at something, much less actually laughed honestly and whole-heartedly. Soul guessed it really was something only Maka could get out of him after all.

He didn't even know why he was laughing. It wasn't _that_ funny to begin with.

But it felt so good to finally get rid of the tension in the air.

Eventually, Maka herself joined in with her own giggles (and was that a blush on her cheeks…?) and let's just say that it took them a while to completely calm down to the point of being able to talk without breaking down again.

* * *

"… Maka?" The sound of her name still felt a little strange on his tongue after not having spoken it out loud for so long.

"What is it?" They were back to being somewhat serious now, but at least they weren't acting so weirdly towards each other anymore. Soul guessed this was about as good a time as any to finally ask about what had been eating away at him ever since fourth grade.

"Why…" He couldn't do it. Damn it, why couldn't he just man up and get this done and over with?! "Just now… why were you so upset?" That wasn't what he meant to ask but Soul found himself thinking that maybe this was a better approach anyway. Not just ranting about mistakes of the past, but showing concern for her first, showing that he could be trusted… and stuff.

"Upset? What do you mean?" Maka apparently didn't think so.

"C'mon, Maka, we may not have seen each other for years but that doesn't change the fact that I can tell when you cried…!" It was true. The skin around her eyes had been a little reddish and puffy-looking back then and her response to him asking about her well-being had come out way too light-hearted. Too airy. Too fake. But the teen still doubted she would actually trust him enough to tell him.

"I'd have to start at the very beginning, you know?" She was gazing at her hands now, nervously twirling her napkin this way and that way, intent on not looking his way under any circumstances.

"I've got time." Soul answered in what he hoped was well-disguised interest. This was what he'd been waiting for. She was finally going to tell him. Did he really want to know? He surmised that he had to, whether he wanted to or not.

"Okay…" Maka took a deep breath before she started. "You remember my parents getting divorced, right?"

"Yeah, I made you hot cocoa to cheer you up." Soul smiled fondly in memory as he took a sip of his coffee. "And you had a milk mustache just like today…"

"Yeah, well, it seems my mom started traveling the world after having left my father." His attempt at lightening the mood a little seemed to go unnoticed by her as she continued her story with full concentration. "We didn't hear much from her after the official divorce. Maybe a post card or two a month, where she told me about a country she had visited. India, France, South Africa, Germany, Columbia… Always saying that someday I should travel with her." A short pause. "But my dad wouldn't allow it. Not even for a week during the holidays. At some point, I think he even hid the post cards from me, because all of a sudden I didn't get any anymore."

'Your father always has been an asshole…!' Soul wanted to throw in, but stopped himself.

"That wasn't all he did, though. Did I ever tell you why my parents got divorced?" She registered his shake of the head out of the corner of her eye, still not looking at him directly. "My dad had cheated on my mom. Not just once either. The worst thing was how he didn't stop. After Mom left, he had a woman over nearly every day. He started drinking too. His anger got even worse. The slightest protest from me ended in getting shouted at and being sent to my room without dinner." Her voice was so full of shame and disgust, one could think she blamed herself for it.

"That's why you suddenly spent more time at my place, right?" Soul hadn't thought of it that way when it had happened but directly after Spirit and Kami's divorce Maka had visited his house after school as often as she could, refusing vehemently that they play at her place. She nodded in response.

"… Eventually it got to the point that he threatened me with violence while drunk." The plastic cup in his hands was crushed as his hands fisted unconsciously. Good thing he was done with calmly drinking coffee. "Before he could do anything serious, though, I ran away."

"During spring break?"

"Yeah." Her voice sounded as if she was this close to crying, almost cracking as she continued remorsefully. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you anything…! I-I didn't even know I would run away until that evening when he had finally slapped me across the face and left me to sleep locked up in my room. I climbed out the window, planning to ask if I could hide at your place for a while. That's when a police officer picked me up on the street. I told them what happened, the Youth Welfare Office was notified and as soon as my father was found even shouting at and hurting the woman he had brought home that night the police told me to stay with my mom. She picked me up as soon as she could, but until then I had to live at my aunt's." Her eyes were glistening a little, but she swallowed down the tears threatening to escape her. Soul wanted to comfort her, but he didn't know how, didn't know what he could do without appearing intrusive, so for now he settled for simply listening.

"And ever since then, you've been travelling with her?" Soul asked, trying to wrap his head around what the girl had just told him. He'd always thought that whatever excuses she may've had they would never be enough to make him forgive her for leaving him the way she did. Suddenly, he didn't even feel anger at her anymore. Rather, he couldn't believe that something like that had taken place so close to him. Stories like that sounded like a movie to him, not reality!

"For a while, yes. But after the summer vacation was over, she had me enrolled in the school of a city where we'd planned to stay a few years. At least until I'd graduated from Elementary School." Maka had calmed down at this point. Talking about her mother seemed to cheer her up greatly, as she'd always idolized the older woman.

"Where?" Soul was truly interested. Her way of talking was different; a slight kind of accent giving away that she had spent a lot of time abroad, surrounded by other languages and dialects.

"The first three years were spent in Great Britain, Liverpool. I think the only thing Mom knew about it before going there was that it was the birthplace of John Lennon…" They were both chuckling when Maka recounted the tales of her times abroad. She had experienced so much, in fact, that they had spent hours and hours discussing it.

"Hey, wasn't my original question why you were upset?" Soul asked light-heartedly after they had calmed down somewhat. "You may have told me your life story, but you haven't answered my question yet!" His voice showed his concern a little more than he had hoped, but for now that didn't matter as much. Even after all this time, Maka was still his best friend and she'd felt miserable. He of all people should know that letting something eat at you isn't going to solve anything!

"Oh, that… it was just my dad being an asshole again…!" The girl admitted somewhat reluctantly. At his questioning gaze (yes, they looked at each other by now) she elaborated quickly. "You know, I'm only visiting Death City because my dad invited me to spend some 'father-daughter-time' with me. In the end we ran across one of his women and he abandoned me for her. Nothing new for that matter." Maka told him in a hurry, as if it wasn't that important anyway. But it was. She was looking at her hands again and Soul noticed that her eyes were starting to gather fluids. Damn it, why couldn't he keep his mouth shut? Just when they got along so well too!

Oh crap, now she was starting to sniffle! What the heck was he supposed to do? He couldn't just let her cry here! A few years ago he would've taken her hand to squeeze it or maybe even hugged her, but they weren't eight years old anymore. Hugging her would be totally awkward (even more so than this whole situation was in the first place), no matter how much he wished he could.

The white-haired teen really wanted nothing more right now than to hug the sobbing girl in front of him close to his chest, whisper comforting words into her ear and kiss her to make her forget about all her misery.

Soul shook his head. He had to stop thinking like that! Still, the question remained… What should he do now? Hugging her or holding her hand was too personal, but just doing nothing as he hoped that she would calm down on her own seemed like an asshole move to do…

"Sorry…" The young man whispered softly as he finally settled on carefully laying a (hopefully) comforting hand on her shoulder and patting it lightly. "I didn't mean to upset you again."

"No, it's alright…" Maka lifted her head a little, gauging his facial expression from the corner of her eye. Yup, he was blushing. But his eyes also showed genuine concern for her, making her smile up at him despite her puffy eyes and slightly runny nose. Sometimes this guy could be so cute…! "It actually feels good to tell someone about it. About everything, actually. I'm glad I bumped into you today, Soul."

His cheeks were heating up some more as he realized what she'd just said. The urge to hug her and never let her go was even stronger than before, but Soul ignored it. He wouldn't let himself be controlled by his own carnal urges.

He would make sure that they took their time reacquainting each other before he'd make any kind of move on her. Especially after all the shit she had to go through because of her father…

And Soul would damn well make sure that he got his chance at telling her what he'd known for a very long time.

"… Same here, Maka!"

To hell with him if he let _his_ girl walk out on him again!

* * *

_Third and last chapter! I hope you enjoyed reading this little one-shot gone multi-chapter story a little! Mind telling me your thoughts in a review?  
_

_Actually, this whole story is based on my personal experiences in Elementary School, Soul somewhat resembling my part of the plot. Except, I'm not a guy, not in love with my best friend and I kinda didn't break down as much. And it 'only' took us three years to meet up again, not eight. But yeah. It actually happened (even if less dramatically... I call artistic license! XD). And as much as I don't have any particular dislike for Spirit, he just seemed like the fitting character to use for the cause of all evil...! XD _

_But anyway, Soul and Maka finally got everything worked out! I just love happy ends! XD I didn't want to make this seem too unreal, like what Soul wanted to happen once they saw each other again. Seriously, I don't think reunions after years without contact actually work like that. Over time you distance yourself from each other if there are too many things left unsaid, so that's why there's no reunion make-out scene! _

___And then there's still the matter about the fourth chapter, a kind of epilogue like I announced in the A/N of the first chapter. Would you like me to publish that one as well (since it's already pretty much typed down, I just need to add a few finishing touches here and there) or should I leave things as they are and call it quits here? Vote via review!_

___Thanks for following or favoriting this story or even me: DarkfireOfYugioh, WritersUnite717, turtletot99, elizabethbane, Ilovethetv, Coral179, .Girl80, Animefreak2115, Jmann23, samtam44 and ABJlNlks!_

___Also, thank you so very much for taking the time to review: sabrina bina, TheHallow, guest(Guest), Starlight(Guest) and Mao!_

_Anyway, thank you sooo much for all your support! _

_- Tracy247_


	4. Epilogue

**Left alone**

_Epilogue_

"I'm leaving now, Mom!" Maka called up the stairs as she put on her shoes at the front door.

"Alright, sweetie! Have fun with Soul~!" Her mother's mischievous words made the sixteen year old blush slightly. There was no denying that Kami knew about her daughter's weekly trips to Death City and the reason behind them – a certain white-haired teen – as well. But did she _have_ to remind her every time? It was embarrassing enough to have your mother wake you up each Saturday with the words 'Come on, honey, wake up! You don't want to be late to your _date_, do you?'!

They weren't even dates to begin with!

Well, yeah, the two had been meeting each weekend ever since they had – literally – stumbled across each other three months ago. (Cellphones and other media using modern technology allowed them to keep in contact – well, more like constantly exchange messages and calls about everything and nothing. Thank god for flat rates.)

But meeting your childhood friend on a regular basis did _not_ mean that they were dating!

Then again, Maka was pretty sure that her mother had certain suspicions about her having feelings for Soul. It had probably already given her away when she had been all gloomy for several weeks, right after having left Death City eight years ago. She hadn't been able to eat or sleep properly, her worries about what Soul would think of her leaving him alone so suddenly eating away at her every time she tried to calm down.

Kami had to give her one hell of a tongue-lashing to get her back to normal, with the guarantee that she would see him again, someday, somewhere, when she least expected to. Until then she would just have to keep holding onto hope. In her opinion, her mother had seemed awfully sure that Soul would forgive so easily, considering that Maka knew about the boy's insecurities. Well, she didn't really know how deep they ran, but she'd caught glimpses at his moments of uncertainty.

Nevertheless, trusting her mother's words, the girl slowly got back to life, found friends and enjoyed the time of being a 'normal' student. (Even if it wasn't nearly as happy a time as Elementary School with Soul had been… She never would've thought that she'd miss being an outcast of sorts like him, sticking together against the rest of the world… But she did.)

And it had happened just like her mother had predicted.

Maka couldn't even begin to understand how Soul had been able to forgive her so easily. She'd hurt him so much by just leaving him in the dark about everything, for so long. And yet, after years of wondering and worrying about her reasons, he just let her off the hook like it was nothing. She just didn't get it. How- _why_ wasn't he angry?!

He had every right to be in her opinion. Of course, she was glad he didn't hold a grudge or anything, but the girl really wasn't sure if she would've been able to do the same for him if their roles had been reversed…

Maka decided that she'd ask him today. He got his answers about her whereabouts after all. It's only fair for her to know how he'd been doing ever since third grade. After all, up until now Soul had carefully avoided that topic to the point of getting her suspicious about it.

This time, he was gonna spill.

The train ride to Death City wasn't all that long and right now, Maka appreciated these 43 minutes all the more since she could use the time to collect her thoughts. How was she going to approach this subject? It wasn't like she could just jump a question like that at her childhood friend out of the blue. He'd shut down on her, change the subject. No, the girl wouldn't be able to get anything out of him if she didn't soften him up properly beforehand…!

When she finally arrived at Death City Station, her gaze wandered nervously across the sea of people, looking for a familiar head of white spiky hair sticking in about every possible direction. Last night, Soul had texted her to wait there for him to pick her up as usual. But usually he was already waiting for her by the time the train arrived. Today, it seemed she was going to have to wait for him after all.

Fifteen minutes later, said guy finally decided to make an appearance, rather out of breath by the looks of it too.

"Sorry, Maka…! I kinda overslept…" Soul huffed sheepishly as he stopped in front of her with his hands on his knees. The girl decided she'd believe him that much, judging by the even more unruly hair constantly falling back into his eyes. Actually, she could use this to her advantage…!

"It's okay, Soul. Don't worry about it." Maka assured him softly, pushing his bangs out of his eyes while she was at it. Yup, there he goes again with the blushing. How she loved that look on him…! The slightly reddish tint on his cheeks always made him look younger, more innocent, more like the Soul she grew up with. Not that she didn't like his appearance now. Quite the contrary, she'd caught herself marveling at his defined body, strong facial features and all around more mature looks far too often for her liking. But a blushing Soul was just-…! Forcing herself to get back to the topic at hand, Maka threw one last look at the red-faced boy before pulling back from him.

"Okay then…" The boy seemed to snap out of his (non-existent) thoughts all of a sudden as she did so, trying to hide his awkwardness by not looking at her. "Well, w-what do you want to do today?" Perfect. He was nervous, he was embarrassed, he was apologetic. Best conditions for getting him to talk. Just not at the train station, please.

"How about the usual?" The usual being the Death Bucks they'd spent so much time at three months ago. Ever since then, the teens would oftentimes hang out there whenever they met, talking for hours and hours on end. It was weird how they never really ran out of things to say. Or how when they actually preferred staying quiet, they were perfectly content sitting there in mutual silence. It was weird, but really, really nice, for lack of a better word (which she'd surely find if she allowed herself to ponder this a little more, but she didn't, so that's that).

"A-actually I was thinking… maybe you'd wanna, I don't know, get something to eat first…?" How she loved it when he behaved so _'uncoolly'_ in his opinion. It was adorable. And judging by his usual attitude it wasn't like a whole lot of people knew this side of him.

"You haven't had any breakfast, huh?" Maka guessed, still grinning broadly in delight. His sheepish shake of the head made the smile grow even wider before she gave into his request. "Alright, we'll have brunch somewhere. You got anything in mind?"

"Yeah, I, uh, know a good place. C'mon, Maka!" And with that, Soul grabbed her hand with his and dragged her to his orange motorcycle. When she had first found out he had one, she had been really worried. After all, you hear so often about bikers getting injured or even killed in accidents because of lacking security measures. By now, however, she merely enjoyed riding on the back of it with an excuse to cling onto him, seeing as how he was way too 'cool' (and too stubborn) to give up his precious bike anyway.

* * *

The day passed far too quickly for both teenagers' liking, just like every Saturday.

Unfortunately, Maka was still not even an inch closer to getting Soul to talk and her train was scheduled to leave in ten minutes. She'd totally forgotten that she wanted to ask him when they had brunch in a small, quiet café. And she couldn't very well talk to him during the movie he'd let her choose. And somehow, all reason had left her mind when the white-haired teen took her out for a walk in the park.

Holding her hand the entire time…!

And now here they were at the train station once again, waiting for her ride home. However, even though she had not come any closer to getting her answers, Maka just couldn't stop smiling whenever she thought about this day.

It had been almost… like a _date_…!

Sighing contently once again, the girl chose to look at the boy exactly when he glanced her way. Their gazes met for a split-second, before both teens looked away hastily, red dancing across their cheeks.

Was it just her or had he looked kind of nervous…?

"There's your train." Soul stated rather uselessly as it drove into the track two minutes of slightly tense silence later. His gaze wandered over the people entering the train before landing on her again. Staying there. Staring at her. Not the creepy way, though, rather like he was trying to say something, but couldn't quite find the courage (?) to do so.

"So, um, I guess I'll see you next Saturday…?" The girl tried, just as unable to tear her gaze away from him. Why did he have to stare at her like that? Why did he have to make her feel like her legs wouldn't be able to hold her up for much longer if he kept it up? Why did he have to make her feel like this…?

"I…" Why did he hesitate to tell her about what had him so worried…? "Maka, I-" Just then an announcement was made over speaker. Her train would leave any minute. Soul continued whatever he wanted to say, but she couldn't make out what it was.

It looked like… _those words_.

But the girl stopped that thought from surfacing before it could even really begin to ascend. She couldn't entertain such ridiculous hopes. They weren't worth all the pain she would have to go through once they were crushed.

… But what if they had been the words she wanted to hear?

She'd have to make sure first…!

"What was that?" Maka asked curiously as soon as the loud female voice disappeared.

"I-" Only for the woman on speaker to repeat exactly what she had been saying seconds ago. Groaning, Soul seemed to give up on trying to tell her. Instead he promptly grabbed her face with his strong but gentle hands…

… and kissed her.

Not just a little peck either. His lips pressed against hers gently, but with such urgency, Maka couldn't've pulled away if she wanted to (which she didn't either).

But it was over before the woman could even finish her announcement.

"C'mon, don't wanna miss your train, right?" Actually, she wouldn't mind so much…! No, wait, she had to take this one; it was going to be the last one until tomorrow! _Stupid train schedules!_ It wasn't every day that the guy she loved kissed her out of the blue… And now she didn't even have enough time to bid him goodbye because she was practically shoved into the cabin by him…!

Somehow his eyes seemed to be just as reluctant as hers, though, when the doors closed between them.

He mouthed something again.

Or maybe he was saying it out loud.

But Maka couldn't lip-read to save her life, so all it did was increase her confusion.

Sighing exaggeratedly, but the gentle smile never leaving his face, Soul drew something against the glass between them.

A heart.

Small, edgy, hurried, as the train began to move.

But Maka understood.

She couldn't keep the silly smile off her face the entire ride home. Nor did she seem to be able to stop drawing little hearts against the window next to her. Small, edgy hearts as she thought about the guy that had given his to her. And the one whom she'd given hers in return.

She didn't really care about the past anymore (for now, anyway). She had the future to look forward to now.

* * *

At the same time, Soul wore pretty much the same expression as he rode home on his bike.

Just before he'd gotten onto the seat, he'd received a text message.

_Maka, 17.54: "I love you too, Soul ღ"_

Well, at least his helmet hid the ridiculously happy grin on his face.

Nobody but Maka was allowed to see him being this uncool after all…!

* * *

_And that was the epilogue as promised! I uploaded it a little earlier as somewhat of a birthday gift from me to you all! :) (And because I'll ne gone for a week starting Saturday...)  
_

_I hope this ending of my story was fitting and not too over the top or anything... I just really wanted to write about how Soul would finally man up and 'tell' Maka about his feelings! What do you think? Does it seem like an IC move for him to pull or would it have been better to stop after the last chapter after all? (But don't worry, I'm not going to delete this one, no matter what you say! XP) If you find the time, tell me your opinion in a review!  
_

_And yes, it was short...! Sorry about that! Honestly, I thought about describing their date a bit more in detail, but then I remembered that that would probably just make things worse, so I left it here. Also, yes Soul needs that much time to finally 'gather his cool' and tell her! He's just Soul like that, in my opinion! XD  
_

_Thank you so much for following or favoriting this story or even me: nowigetaholiday, Lochness Nova, Clairessa88, WhoLockedDemigod, SilentSunrise and Noone190!  
_

_Also, I want to thank everyone who's taken the time to review this little story of mine: sabrina bina, DarkfireOfYugioh, Starlight (Guest), Wild Cat Mao and monzepelmoon!  
_

_Thank you all so much for sticking to this story until the end and supporting me through it!_

_As always, I don't own anything! Seriously, even the idea belongs to the plot bunny hiding under my bed!_

_- Tracy247_


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